Feeding mechanism for sewing-machines.



O. F. GRAY; FEEDING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 8, 1911.

191116111611 Jan. 9, 1912.

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ATTORNEY COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH 120., WASHINGTON, D. c. I

G. F. GRAY. FEEDING MECHANISM EOE SEWING MACHINES.

' APPLICATION FILED APR. 8, 1911. 1,014,298.

Patented Jan. 9, 1912.-

l/VVE/VTOR f/zazfiz qa y ATTORNEY COLUMBIA PLANUGRAPH 60., WASHINGTON.D. c.

C. F. GRAY. FEEDING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 8, 1911. 1,014,298. Patented Jan. 9, 1912. I

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WITNESSES: I 4 IIVVELVLOR 2 C/Zaz/as/ 40 PM I ATTORNEY COLUMBIAPLANOGRAPH co.,wAs NNNNNNNNNNN c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES FREDERICK GRAY, OF SIERRA MADRE, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO THESINGER MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 8, 1911.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I. CHARLES F. GRAY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Sierra Madre, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in FeedinMechanism for Sewing-Machines, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in feeding mechanism forsewingmachines, and has for its object to simplify and strengthen the meansemployed for suspending the feed of the fabric and to facilitate themanual manipulation of the same during the continued operation of thestitch-forming mechanism.

In the earlier forms of constructions for elfecting a dwell in the feedof the fabric during the stitching operation, it has-been common toconnect the controlling means with the means for giving to the feed-dogits feed movements. In the present construction the controllingmechanism acts upon the elements for givlng to the feed-dog itsfeed-lift movements, to which end the feed-lift connection is linked toa stationary part of the sewing machine, said link when in its normalposition acting, through said connection, to transmit feed-liftmovements to the feed-dog, and also being adjustable for the purpose ofsuspending the effective action of said connect-ion.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating the invention, in are severalfigures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure 1 is afront side elevation of a zigzag sewing machine of well-understoodconstruction equipped with the present invention. Fig. 2 is a top planview of the rear end portion of the machine shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is aview in section through the arm standard, looking from the front of themachine, showing in full lines the elements more directly connected withthe present invention. Fig. 4 is an underside view of the machine shownin Fig. 1.

The invention is herein shown and will be described as applied to theSinger zigzag sewing machine, but it is to be understood that it isequally applicable to other forms of sewing machines employingfour-motion feeding mechanism; and as it has to do only with the meansfor giving to the feed-dog its vertical movements, it is not deemednecessary to refer to the elements comprising the stitch-formingmechanism, except in a general way.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents the bed-plate of the sewingmachine upon which is mounted the bracket arm comprising the standard 2and arm 3, 4 the hand or band wheel carried by the main orneedlebar-driving shaft 5 which, at its forward end, is 'operatively'connected by the usual needle-bar link (not shown) with the needle barcollar 6 carried by the needle-bar 7, said shaft, through said link,acting to give to said needle-bar its vertical or stitch-formingmovements.

8 represents the needle-bar frame pivoted at its upper end, by studscrew 9, to the head 10 of the bracket arm, and to said frame is pivotedone end of the needle-bar-vibrating connection 11, the opposite end ofsaid connection being connected with a suitable eccentric (not shown),common to zigzag sewing machines of the variety herein illustrated, saideccentric being carried by the shaft 12 which receives motion from then1ain shaft 5 throu h suitable coacting spiral gears, as 13 one only ofwhich is shown).

14 represents one form of commonly-employed needle thread tension, 15the needle thread take-up, 16 the cloth-presser-carrying bar, 17 thecloth-presser, 18 the usual eye-pointed needle, and 19 the throat orneedle plate.

20 represents the loop-taker carried by the loop-taker shaft 21, whichlatter is mounted to rotate in the bushing 22 secured in the lug 23formed integral with the bed-plate 1, said loop-taker shaft carrying abevel gear 24 which "meshes with a. like gear 25 carried by theloop-taker-driving shaft 26 operatively connected by belt 27 with themain shaft 5.

28 represents the feed rock-shaft provided at its forward end withsuitable lugs, as 29, between which is pivotally mounted one end of thefeed-dog-carrying bar 30 carrying the feed-dog 31, andupon the oppositeend of said feed rock-shaft is secured, by pinch screw 32, a collar 33having an arm 34 to the free end of which is pivotally attached thelower end of the feed connection 35, the upper end of said connectionencircling the feed eccentric 36 carried by the main shaft 5 (shown indotted lines only, Fig. 3), thus,

through the connections 36, 35, 33, 30 and 28, feed movements aretransmitted from said main shaft to the feed-dog 31.

37 represents a feed-lift rock-shaft of tubular construction mounted tooscillate on the loop-taker-driving shaft 26, said rockshaft havingsecured to its folward end, .by pinch screw 38, a collar 39 providedwith an arm 40 into the free end of which is threaded a bolt 41 carryinga slide block 42 which tracks the usual slot (not shown) formed in theend 43 of the feed-dog-carrying bar 30. Upon the rear end of thefeed-lift rockshaft 37 is secured, by screw 44, a second collar havingan arm 45 into which is threaded a stud bolt 46 upon which is pivotedthe lower end of the feed-lift connection 47 the opposite end of saidconnection being forked to embrace an eccentric block 48 mounted upon aneccentric 49 carried by the main shaft 5.

The connections so far described for transmitting vertical movementsfrom the main shaft 5 to the feed-dog 31 would lack efiectiveness, dueto the forked construction of.

the upper end of the feed-lift connection 47 which, in the earlierdevices, directly em braces the eccentric 49 and thus receives from saidmain shaft vertically arranged movements which, through the connectionspointed out, would effect vertical movements of the feed-dog 31. Toeffect the object of the invention, viz :to position the connection 47at the will of the operator, so as to hold the effective surface of thefeed-dog below the upper surface of the needle-plate during thecontinued operation of the stitch-forming mechanism, the verticalmovements of said feed-lift connection are controlled by a linkconnected with a stationary part of the sewing machine frame, as willnow be described.

50 represents a boss or hub formed integral with the bracket armstandard, and in this hub is suitably secured a bushing 51 whichreceives a shaft 52, the latter carrying at its outer end a shiftinglever 53, and at its inner end a link-adjusting lever 54 provided at itsupper end with a pivot pin 55.

56 represents a link pivoted at one end on the pin 55, its opposite endbeing pivoted upon a stud screw 57 threaded into the con-- nection 47.The outer end of said shifting lever is, in practice, connected with asuitable foot or knee treadle (not shown) located below the bed-plate ofthe sewing machine. The link 56 and link-adjusting lever 54 constitute alink connection for connecting the feed-lift connection with astationary part of the sewing machine.

In the ordinary operation of the machine, the link-adjusting lever 54'isheld by the spring 58 against the inner end of the screw 59, and as theupper end of the connection 47 is moved, by the action of the eccentrictions pointed out, effects a like movement of the feed-dog, the actionof said eccentric upon said connection in an opposite direction givingto said connected parts their return movements.

When, for any purpose, it is desired to suspend the feed of the fabricand continue the stitch formation, as when tacking off the end of aseam, the shifting lever 53 is moved downward sufliciently to adjust thelink-adjusting lever 54 in contact with the inner end of the screw 60,which positions the axes of the pin 55 and stud screw 57 insubstantially vertical alinement and in substantially parallelrelationship with the connection 47, such adjustment causing the latterand its connected feed-dog to be moved to their lowest operativepositions, and owing to the parallel relationship of the elements 47, 54and 56, the connection 47 is held against movement in the direction ofits length, thus suspending the feed-lift movements of the feed-dog andholding the effective surface of the latter below the upper surfaceofthe needle-plate.

Claims 1. In a feedingmechanism for sewing machines, a main shaft, afeed-dog, means for transmitting feed and vertical movements from saidmain shaft to said feed-dog, said means including a feed-lift connectionpivoted at one end to oscillate on a given axis, its opposite end beingoperatively connected with said main shaft, and a link connectionlocated between a stationary part of the sewing machine and saidfeed-lift connection for suspending or effecting vertical movements ofsaidkfeed-dogat the will of the operator.

2. In a feeding mechanism for sewing machines, a; main shaft, afeed-dog, means for transmitting feed and vertical movements from saidmain shaft to said feed-dog, said means including a feed lift connectionpivoted at one end to oscillate on a given axis, its opposite end beingoperatively connected with said main shaft, and a link connectionlocated between a stationary part of the sewing machine and saidfeed-lift connection for suspending or effecting vertical movements ofsaid feed-dog at the will of the operator, said feed-lift connectionbeing forked to permit of its being oscillated on said given axis whenheld against vertical movement. .7 t

3. In a feeding mechanism for sewing machines, a main shaft, a feed-dog,means for transmitting feed and vertical movements from said main shaftto said feed-dog, said means including a feed -lift connection pivotedat one end to oscillate on a given axis, its opposite end beingoperatively connected with said main shaft, a manually operated linkconnection located between a stationary part of the sewing machine andsaid feed-lift connection for suspending or effecting vertical movementsof said feeddog at the will of the operator, and means for limiting theadjustment of said link conmotion.

4. In a feeding mechanism for sewing machines, a bracket-arm, a mainshaft, a feed dog, means for transmitting feed and vertical movementsfrom said main shaft to said feed-dog, said means including a feed-liftconnection pivoted at one end to oscillate on a given axis, its oppositeend being operatively connected with said main shaft, and a shaftmounted to oscillate in a bearing formed in the bracket arm and providedat its outer end with a shifting lever and at its opposite end with alink-adjusting lever, the latter being pivotally connected to a linkhaving pivotal connection with said feed lift connection, said shiftinglever, shaft, link-adjusting lever and link comprising means forsuspending or effecting vertical movements of said feed-dog, at the willof the operator.

5. In a feeding mechanism for sewing machines, a main shaft, a feed-dog,means for transmitting feed and vertical movements from said main shaftto said feed-dog, said means including a feed-lift connection pivoted atone end to oscillate on a given axis, its opposite end being operativelyconnected with said main shaft by an eccentric and an eccentric block,and a link connection located between a stationary part of the sewingmachine and said feed-lift connection for suspending or efiectingvertical movements of said feed-dog at the will of the operator.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES FREDERICK GRAY.

Witnesses:

SUSAN H. MEAD, A. S. MEAD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

